Do you have to do those boring grammar homework again and can't find the object complement? Or maybe you're helping your son or daughter make them… well, here are some simple tips to find it when it escapes you.
Steps
Step 1. Find the subject of the sentence
To do this, ask yourself "who" or "what" is doing the action. Example: Alice cooks a cake for her mother. Who cooks the cake? Alice.
Step 2. Find out if the sentence contains a transitive, intransitive, or copula verb
In transitive verbs the action performed by the subject falls on an object (take, do, bring something). Intransitive verbs express an action that does not fall on any object (running, jumping, going). The copula involves the connection between the subject and the rest of the sentence (I am, is, we are). Ours is a transitive verb, because Alice is doing something (she is cooking a cake).
Step 3. Find the object complement by asking yourself "who" or "what" is the recipient of the action
What does Alice cook? A cake. Well done! You have found the object complement. Now we are going to identify the term complement.
Step 4. Find the word between the verb and the complement object of the action that answers one of the following questions:
"to / for whom" or "to / for what". Who does Alice cook the cake for? For his mother. It's that simple!
Step 5. Double check that the words you have chosen as object and term complement are nouns or pronouns
If they aren't, you should try again.
